Publications of the Civil-Service Reform Association 

NO, 2 



THE BEGINNING OF 
THE ^'SPOI LS" SYSTEM 

IN THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 
1829-30 

(reprinted BY PERMISSION FROM PARTON'S "LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON*') 



NEW YORK 
PUBLISHED FOR THE 

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM ASSOCIATION 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
1881 

S ^ ^ ^ 



The Civil- Service Reform Association. 

_ . ^ . : 

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS AND DOCUMENTS 
now ready. (March i88i.) 



(The following documents will be furnished to members and to societies, 
by the quantity, at the marked pi-ices.) 

Purposes of the Civil-Service Reform Association, in- 
cluding its constitution. Per copy, TO Cts. Per lOO, . . $2 75 

Constitution of the Civil-Service Reform Association, with 
list of officers. Per 100, . . . . . .50 

By-laws of same. Per 100, . . . . . 50 

Petitions to Congress for Civil-Service Reform. 

Per 100, . - . , . . . . • 75 

The Beginning of the "Spoils" System, 1829-30. (Re- 
printed by permission from Parton's " Life of Andrew Jackson.") 
Per copy, 10 cts. Per 100, . . . . . . • $3 50 

IN PREPARATION. 
The Association has arranged definitely for the following papers : 
A History of the ** Spoils " System. By Geo. Wm. Curtis. 
The Effect of the ** Spoils " System on Party Nominations. 

By Horace White. 
Political Assessments. By A. R. Macdonough. 
The Objection to the Reform that it would produce an 

Aristocracy of Office-Holders. By E. L. Godkin. 
The ** Spoils " System and Civil-Service Reform in the Post 

Office and Custom House in New York. By Dorman B. 

Eaton. 

PROJECTED PUBLICATIONS. 

The holding of competitive examinations both in this country and 
abroad. 

The results of the competitive system in the New York Custom House 
and Post Office. 

The working of the principle of Civil-Service Reform — appointment for 
merit, and tenure during efficiency — in commercial enterprises, as illus- 
trated by the organization of some great corporation. 

The re-publication of official documents, speeches and letters of public 
officers bearing testimony to the desirableness and practicnbleness of the 
reform, and such -an examination of the various phases of the Civil-Ser- 
vice Reform Question, as will put the reader in full possession of what is 
likely to be said or can be said on both sides, in any discussion which the 
subjects calls forth. 

[Donations for the general purposes of the Association are requested. 
Checks should be drawn to order of John C. Eno, Treasurer, and addressee! 
to R. L. Dugdale, Secretary, P. O. Box 31^ Station D, or No. 79 Fourili 
Avenue, New York City.] 






THE 

BEGINNING OF THE "SPOILS" SYSTEM 



(Reprinted by permission from Parton's " Life of Andrew Jackson.") 



Constitution makers do all they can to support the weakness 
of human virtue when subjected to the temptations of power and 
place. But virtue cannot be dispensed with in this world. No 
system of ''checks and balances " can be made so perfect but 
that much must be left, after all, to the honor of governing per- 
sons. 

Among the powers entrusted to the honor of Presidents of the 
United States was the dread power of removing from office, 
without trial or notice, the civil officers of the government. In 
the army and navy, no officer can be cashiered, no private dis- 
missed, without trial — without being heard in his defense. In the 
civil service of the country, every man holds his place at the will 
of the head of government. 

This fearful power over the fortunes of individuals and the 
happiness of families, is held, necessarily, in our present imper- 
fect civilization, by a large number of persons in private life ; and 
it is one of the ten thousand proofs of the inherent loving-kind- 
ness of human nature, that this power is generally exercised with 
a considerable regard for the feelings, the necessities, and the 

1 



2 THE BEGINNING OF THE '"SPOILS" SYSTEM. 

rights of the employed. The claim of old servants to indulgence 
and protection is almost universally recognized. The right of a 
person about to be dismissed from an employment to as long a 
notice of dismission beforehand as can be conveniently given, few 
persons are unfeeling enough to deny. The good policy of hold- 
ing out to the faithful ofiicer the prospect of a permanent retention 
or his place, and his promotion, by and by, to a better, no one 
but a politician has been foolish enough to quest'on. 

It does not appear to have occurred to the gentlemen who 
formed the Constitution under which we live, that there could 
ever be a President of the United States who would abuse the 
power of removal. His own responsibility for the conduct of those 
whom he appointed was supposed to be sufficient to make him 
careful to appoint the right men to the right places, and his feel- 
ings as a man and a gentleman, were deemed an adequate pro- 
tection to those right men in their right places. 

It is delightful to observe with what a scrupulous conscientious- 
ness the early Presidents of this republic disposed of the places in 
their gift. Washington set a noble example. He demanded to 
be satisfied on three points with regard to an applicant for of- 
fice : Is he honest .? Is he capable .? Has he the confidence of 
his fellow-citizens.? Not till these questions were satisfactorily an- 
swered did he deign to inquire respecting the political opinions of 
a candidate. Private friendship between the President and an ap- 
plicant was absolutely an obstacle to his appointment, so fearful 
was the President of being swayed by private motives. "My 
friend," he says, in one of his letters, *'I receive with cordial 
welcome. He is welcome to my house, and welcome to my heart; 
but with all his good qualities he is not a man of business. His 
opponent, with all his politics so hostile to me, is a man of busi- 



THE BEGINNING OF THE " SPOILS" SYSTEM. 3 

ness. My private feelings have 'nothing to do in the case. I am 
not George Washington, but President of the United States. As 
George Washington, I would do this man any kindness in my 
power — as President of the United States, I can do nothing." 

There spoke the man who was a gentleman to the core of his 
heart. 

If General Washington would not appoint a friend because he 
was a friend, nor a partisan because he was a partisan, still less was 
he capable of removing an enemy because he was an enemy, or an 
opponent because he was an opponent. During his administra- 
tion of eight years, he removed nine persons from office ; namely, 
six unimportant collectors, one district surveyor, one vice-consul, 
and one foreign minister. We all know that he recalled Mr. 
Pinckney from Paris because that conservative gentleman was of- 
fensive to the French Directory. The other dismissals were all 
'^ for cause." Politics had nothing to do with one of them. 

The example of General Washington was followed by his suc- 
cessors. John Adams doubted, even, whether it was strictly proper 
for him to retain his son in a foreign employment to which Presi- 
dent Washington had appointed him. He removed nine subordi- 
nate officers during his presidency ; but none for political opinion's 
sake. Jefferson, owing to peculiar circumstances well known to 
readers of history, removed thirty-nine persons ; but he himself 
repeatedly and solemnly declared, that not one of them was re- 
moved because he belonged to the party opposed to his own. The 
contrary imputation he regarded in the light of a calumny, and re- 
futed it as such. In one respect Mr,. Jefferson was even over 
scrupulous. He would not appoint any man to office, however 
meritorious, who was a relative of his own. Mr. Madison made 
five removals ; Mr. Monroe, nine ; Mr. John Quincy Adams, two. 



4 THE BEGINNING OF THE ''SPOILS'' SYSTEM. 

Mr. Calhoun tells us,* that during the seven years that he held the 
office of Secretary of War only two of his civil subordinates were 
removed, both for improper conduct. In both cases, he adds, the 
charges were investigated in the presence of the accused, and "the 
officers were not dismissed until after full investigation, and the 
reason of dismission reduced to writing and communicated to 
them/'f Colonel McKenney mentions, in his '' Memoirs, " that 
when a vacancy occurred in one of the departments, the chief of 
that department would inquire among his friends for ''a quali- 
fied " person to fill it. 

Nor was this scrupulousness due to any lack of aspirants for 
governmental employment. Mr. John Quincy Adams says, in one 
of his letters, that he was tormented with ceaseless, with daily ap- 
plications for office. In the last year of Mr. Monroe's presidency, 
when the fourth auditorship of the treasury fell vacant, there were, 
among the army of applicants for the place, five United States 
Senators and thirty members of the House of Representatives ! J 

Up to the hour of the delivery of General Jackson's inaugural 
address, it was supposed that the new President would act upon 
the principles of his predecessors. In his Monroe letters he had 
taken strong ground against partisan appointments, and when he 
resigned his seat in the Senate he had advocated two amendments 
to the constitution designed to limit and purify the exercise of the 
appointing power. One of these proposed amendments forbade 



* Works of John C. Calhoun, ii., 439. 

f Napoleon was a despot, it is said ; yet he never dismissed any one from 
public office without an inquiry and report of facts, and rarely ever without 
hearing the accused fvmctionary ; never when the questions involved were civil 
or administrative." — Napoleonic Ideas. By Lottis Napoleon. 

|N. Y. American, April 3, 1824. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE " SPOILS'' SYSTEM. 5 

the reelection of a President, and the other the appointment of 
members of Congress to any office not judicial. 

The sun had not gone down upon the day of his inauguration 
before it was known in all official circles in Washington that the 
"reform " alluded to in the inaugural address meant a removal 
from office of all who had conspicuously opposed, and an appoint- 
ment to office of those who had conspicuously aided the election 
of the new President. The work was promptly begun. Figures 
are not important here, and the figures relating to this mat'er have 
been disputed. Some have declared that during the first year of 
the presidency of General Jackson two thousand persons in the 
civil employment of jhe government were removed from office, 
and two thousand partisans of the President appointed in their 
stead. This statement has been denied. It can not be denied 
that in the first month of this administration more removals were 
made than had occurred from the foundation of the government 
to that time. It can not be denied that the principle was now 
acted upon that partisan services should be rewarded by public 
office, though it involved the removal from office of competent 
and faithful incumbents. Col. Benton will not be suspected of 
overstating the facts respecting the removals, but he admits that 
their number, during this year, 1829, was six hundred and ninety. 
He expresses himself on this subject with less than his usual 
directness. His estimate of six hundred and ninety does not in- 
clude the little army of clerks and others who were at the disposal 
of some of the six hundred and ninety. The estimate of two 
thousand includes all who lost their places in consequence of 
General Jackson's accession to power ; and, though the exact 
number cannot be ascertained, I presume it was not less than two 
thousand. Col. Benton says that of the eight thousand post- 



6 THE BEGINNING OF THE "SPOILS" SYSTEM. 

masters, only four hundred and ninety-one were removed ; but he 
does not add, as he might have added, that the four hundred and 
ninety-one vacated places comprised nearly all in the department 
that were worth having. Nor does he mention that the removal 
of the postmasters of half a dozen great cities was equivalent to 
the removal of many hundreds of clerks, book-keepers, and 
carriers. 

General Harrison, who had courteously censured General Jack- 
son's course in the Seminole war, who had warmly defended his 
friend, Henry Clay, against the charge of bargain and corruption, 
was recalled from Colombia just four days after General Jackson 
had acquired the power to recall him. General Harrison had only 
resided in Colombia a few weeks when he received the news of his 
recall. A Kentuckian, who was particularly inimical to Mr. Clay, 
was sent out to take his place. 

The appointment of a soldier so distinguished as General Harri- 
son to represent the United States in the infant republic of Colom- 
bia was regarded by the Colombians as a great honor done them, 
and an emphatic recognition of their disputed claim to a place 
among the nations. A purer patriot, a worthier gentleman, than 
General William Henry Harrison, has not adorned the public 
service of his country. His singular merits as a scholar, as a man 
of honor, as a soldier, and as a statesman, were only obscured by 
the calumny and eulogium incident to a presidential campaign. 
My studies of the Indian affairs of the country have given me the 
highest idea of his valor, skill, and humanity. 

Samuel Swartwout was among the expectants at Washington — 
an easy, good-natured man ; most inexact and even reckless in the 
management of business ; the last man in the whole world to be 
intrusted with millions. He had hopes of the collectorship of New 



THE BEGINNING OF THE ''SPOILS" SYSTEM. y 

York. On the fourteenth of March he wrote from Washington to 
his friend, Jesse Hoyt, to let him know how he was getting on, 
and to give Hoyt the benefit of his observations — Hoyt himself 
being a seeker. ''I hold to your doctrine fully, " wrote Swartwout, 
''that no d — d rascal who made use of his office or its profits for 
the purpose of keeping Mr. Adams in, and General Jackson out of 
power, is entitled to the least lenity or mercy, save that of hanging. 
So we think both alike on that head. Whether or not I shall get 
anything in the general scramble for plunder, remains to be proven ; 
but I rather guess I shall. What it will be is not yet so certain ; 
perhaps keeper of the Bergen lighthouse. I rather think Massa 
Pomp stands a smart chance of going somewhere, perhaps to the 
place you have named, or to the devil. Your man, if you want a 
place, is Col. Hamilton* — he being now the second officer in the 
government of the Union, and in all probability our next President. 
Make your suit to him, then, and you will get what you want. I 
know Mr. Ingham slightly, and would recommend you to push like 
a devil if you expect anything from that quarter. I can do you no 
good in any quarter of the world, having mighty little influence 
beyond Hoboken. The great goers are the new men ; the old 
troopers being all spavined and ring-boned from previous hard 
travel. I've got the bots, the fet-lock, hip-joint, gravel, halt, and 
founders ; and I assure you if I can only keep my own legs, I 
shall do well ; but I'm darned if I can carry any weight with me. 
When I left home, I thought my nag sound and strong, but the 
beast is rather broken down here. I'll tell you more about it 
when I see you in New York. In seriousness, my dear sir, your 



* Acting Secretary of State until the arrival of Mr. Van Buren. 



8 THE BEGINNING OF THE '^SPOILS'' SYSTEM. 

support must come from Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Col. Hamilton ; 
I could not help you any more than your clerk."* 

The President, distracted with the number of applications for 
the New York collectorship, and extremely fond of the man who 
had 'pushed like a devil/ a quarter of a century before at Rich- 
mond, gave Swartwout the place. Upon his return to New York, 
his proverbial good nature was put to a severe test ; for the 
applicants for posts in the custom-house met him at every turn, 
crowded his office, invaded his house, and stuffed his letter-box. 
There was a general dismission of Adams men from the New York 
Custom House, and the new appointments were made solely on 
the ground that the applicants had aided the election of General 
Jackson. 

Henry Lee was appointed to a remote foreign consulship, a place 
which he deemed beneath his talents and an inadequate reward for 
his services. He would have probably obtained a better place but 
for the fear that the Senate would reject the nomination. The 
Senate did reject his nomination even to the consulship, and by 
such a decided majority that nothing could be done for him. Even 
Colonel Benton voted against him. Lee, I may add, died soon 
after in Paris, where he wrote part of a history of the Emperor 
Napoleon. 

Terror, meanwhile, reigned in Washington. No man knew 
what the rule was upon which removals were made. No man 
knew what offenses were reckoned causes of removal, nor whether 
he had or had not committed the unpardonable sin. The great 
body of officials awaited their fate in silent horror, glad when the 
office hours expired at having escaped another day. " The gloom 

* Mackenzie's Van Buren, p. 197. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE " SPOILS" SYSTEM. g 

of suspicion," says Mr. Stansbury, himself an office-holder, "per- 
vaded the face of society. No man deemed it safe and prudent to 
trust his neighbor, and the interior of the department presented a 
fearful scene of guarded silence, secret intrigue, espionage, Jnd 
tale-bearing. A casual remark, dropped in the street, would within 
an hour, be repeated at head-quarters ; and many a man received 
unceremonious dismission who could not, for his life, conceive or 
conjecture wherein he had offended." 

At that period, it must be remembered, to be removed from 
office in the city of Washington was like being driven from the 
solitary spring in a wide expanse of desert. The public treasury 
was almost the sole source of emolument. Salaries were small, 
the expenses of living high, and few of the officials had made 
provision for engaging in private business or even for removing 
their families to another city. No one had anticipated a neces- 
sity of removal. Clerks, appointed by the early Presidents, had 
grown gray in the service of the government, and were so habitu- 
ated to the routine of their places, that, if removed, they were 
beggared and helpless. 

An old friend of General Jackson's was in Washington this 
summer. He wrote on the 4th of July to a friend: "I have 
seen the President, and have dined with him, but have had no 
free communication, or conversation with him. The reign of 
this administration — I wish another word could be used — is in 
very strong contrast with the mild and lenient sway of Madison, 
Monroe, and Adams. To me it feels harsh — it seems to have 
had an unhappy effect on the free thoughts, and unrestrained 
speech, which has heretofore prevailed. I question whether the 
ferreting out treasury rats, and the correction of abuses, are 
sufficient to compensate for the reign of terror which appears to 



lO THE BEGINNING OF THE "SPOILS" SYSTEM. 

have commenced. It would be well enough if it were confined 
to evil-doers, but it spreads abroad like a contagion : spies, in- 
formers, denunciations — the fecula of despotism. Where there 
are' listeners there will be tale-bearers. A stranger is warned by 
his friend on his first arrival to be careful how he expresses him- 
self in relation to any one, or any thing which touches the ad- 
ministration. I had hoped that this would be a national admin- 
istration — but it is not even an administration of a party. Our 
republic henceforth, will be governed by factions, and the struggle 
will be who shall get the offices and their emoluments — a struggle 
embittered by the most base and sordid passions of the human 
heart." 

So numerous were the removals in the city of Washington that 
the business of the place seem paralyzed. In July, a Washington 
paper said . 

'' Thirty-tliree houses which were to have been built this year have, we 
learn, been stopped, in consequence of the unsettled and uncertain state of 
things now existing here ; and the merchant can not sell his goods or collect 
his debts from the same cause. We have never known the city to be in a 
state like this before, though we have known it for many years. The indi- 
vidual distress, too, produced, in many cases, by the removal of the destitute 
officers, is harrowing and painful to all who possess the ordinary sympathies 
of our nature, without regard to party feeling. No man, not absolutely bru- 
tal, can be pleased to see his personal friend or neighbor suddenly stripped 
of the means of support, and cast upon the cold charity of the world without 
a shelter or a home. Frigid and insensible must be the heart of that man 
who could witness some of the scenes that have lately been exhibited here, 
without a tear of compassion or a throb of sympathy. But what is still more 
to be regretted is, that this system, having once been introduced, must nec- 
essarily be kept up at the commencement of every presidential term ; and he 
who goes into office knowing its limited and uncertain tenure, feels no dis- 



THE BEGINNING OF THE "SPOILS" SYSTEM. n 

position to make permanent improvements, or to form for himself a perma- 
nent residence. He, therefore, takes care to lay up what he can, during his 
brief official existence, to carry off to some more congenial spot, where he 
means to spend his life, or reenter into business. All, therefore, that he 
might have expended in city improvements is withdrawn, and the revenue of 
the corporation, as well as the trade of the city, is so far lessened and de- 
creased. It is obviously a most injurious policy as it respects the interests 
of our city. Many of the oldest and most respectable citizens of Washing- 
ton, those who have adhered to its fortunes through all their vicissitudes, 
who have ' grown with its growth and strengthened with its strength,' have 
been cast off to make room for strangers who feel no interest in the pros- 
perity of our infant metropolis, and who care not whether it advances or 
retrogrades."' 

As an illustration of the state of things in Washington at this 
time, I will here transcribe the story of Colonel T. L. McKenney, 
for many years the honest and capable superintendent of Indian 
affairs, appointed to that office by Mr. Monroe : 

" Some time after General Jackson had been inaugurated, the Secretary 
of War, Major Eaton, inquired of me if I had been to see the President? 
I said I had not. * Had you not better go over ? ' ' Why, sir ? ' I asked — ' I 
have had no official business to call me there, nor have I now ; why should I 
go?' 'You know, in these times,' replied the Secretary, ' it is well to culti- 
vate those personal relations, which will go far toward securing the good 
wdll of one in power' — and he wound up by more than intimating that the 
President had heard some things in disparagement of me ; when I deter- 
mined forthwith to go and see him, and ascertain what they were. On 
arriving at the door ^of the President's house, I was answered by the door- 
keeper that the President was in, and having gone to report me, returned, 
saying the President would see me. On arriving at the door, it having been 
thrown open by the door-keeper, I saw the President very busily engaged 
writing, and with great earnestness ; so much so, indeed, that I stood for 
some time before he took his eyes off the paper, fearing to interrupt him, 



12 THE BEGINNING OF THE ''SPOILS" SYSTEM. 

and not wishing to seem intrusive. Presently he raised his eyes from the 
paper, and at the same time his spectacles from his nose, and looking at me, 
said, * Come in, sir, come in.' ' You are engaged, sir ? ' * No more so than I 
always anr, and always expect to be,' drawing a long breath, and giving signs 
of great uneasiness. 

'' I had just said, ' I am here, sir, at the instance of the Secretary of 
War,' when the door was thrown open, and three members of Congress 
entered. They were received with great courtesy. I rose, saying, ' You 
are engaged, sir: I will call when you are more at leisure ;' and bowed my- 
self out. On returning to my office, I addressed a note to the President of 
the following import : ' Colonel McKenney's respects to the President of the 
United States, and requests to be infoi'med when it will suit his convenience 
to see him?' to which Major Donelson replied, 'The President will see 
Colonel McKenney to-day, at twelve o'clock.' I was punctual, and found 
the President alone. I commenced by repeating what I had said at my first 
visit, that I was there at the instance of the Secretary of War, who had more 
than intimated to me that impressions of an unfavorable sort had been made 
upon him with regard to me ; and that I was desirous of knowing what the 
circumstances were that had produced them. ' It is true, sir,' sa'd the Presi- 
dent, ' I have been told things that are highly discreditable to you, and which 
have come to me from such sources as to satisfy me of their truth.' 'Very 
well, sir, will you do me the justice to let me know what these things are 
that you have heard from such respectable souixes?' 'You know, Colonel 
McKenney, I am a candid man ' — 'I beg pardon, sir,' I remarked interrupt- 
ing him, ' but I am not here to question that, but to hear charges, which it 
appears have been made to you, affecting my character, either as an officer 
of the government or a man.' 'Well, sir,' he resumed, 'I will frankly tell 
you what these charjes are, and, sir, they are of a character which I can 
never respect.' ' No doubt of that, sir: but what are they?' ' Why, sir, I 
am told, and on the best authority, that you were one of the principal pro- 
moters of that vile paper. We the People, as a contributor toward establishing 
t and as a writer afterward, in which my wife Rachel was so shamefully 
abused. I am told, further, on authority no less respectable, that you took 
an active part in distributing, under the frank of your office, the "coffin 



THE BEGINNING OF THE " SPOILS" SYSTEM. 13 

hand-bills,'" and that in your recent travels, you largely and widely circulated 
the militia pamphlet.' Here he paused, crossed his legs, shook his foot, and 
clasped his hands around the upper knee, and looked at me as though he 
had actually convicted and prostrated me ; when, after a moment's pause, 
I asked, ' Well, sir, what else?' 'Why, sir,' he answered, 'I think such 
conduct highly unbecoming in one who fills a place in the government such 
as you fill, and very derogatory to you, as it would be in any one who should 
be guilty of such practices.' ' All this,' I replied, ' may be well enough ; but I 
request to know if this is all you have heard, and whether there are any more 
charges ? ' ' Why, yes, sir, there is one more ; I am told your office is not 
in the condition in which it t;hould be.' * Well, sir, what more ? ' ' Nothing, 
sir ; but these are all serious charges, sir.' * Then, sir, these comprise all ? ' 
* They do, sir.' ' Well, General,' I answered, ' I am not going to reply to all 
this, or to any part of it, with any view to retaining my office, nor do I in- 
tend to reply to it at all, except tinder the solemnity of an oath,' when I threw 
up my hand toward heaven, saying, ' the anszvers I am about to give to these 
allegations, I solemnly swear, shall be the trnih, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth. My oath, sir, is taken, and is no doubt recorded — ' He in- 
terrupted me by saying, ' You are making quite a serious affair of it.' ' It is, 
sir, what I mean to do,' I answered. 

" 'Now, sir, in regard to the paper called " We the People,' I never did, 
directly or indirectly, either by my money, or by my pen, contribute toward 
its establishment, or its continuance. I never circulated one copy of it, 
more or less, nor did I subscribe for a copy of it, more or less : nor have I 
ever, to the best of my knowledge and belief, handled a copy of it, nor have I 
ever seen but two copies, and these were on the table of a friend, among 
other newspapers. vSo much for that charge. In regard to the "'coffin ha7id- 
bills," I never circulated any, either under the frank of my office or other- 
wise, and never saw but two ; and am not certain that I ever saw but one, 
and that some fool sent me, under cover, fri m Richmond, in Virginia, and 
which I found on my desk among otlier papers, on going to my office ; and 
v.'hich, on seeing what it was, I tore up and threw aside among the waste 
papei-, to be swept out by my messenger. The other, which I took to be one 
of these bills, but which might have been an account of the hanging of some 



H 



THE BEGINNING OF THE ''SPOILS" SYSTEM. 



convict, T saw some time ago, pendent from a man's finger and thumb, he 
having a roll under his arm, as he crossed Broadway, in New York. So 
much for the coffin hand-bills. As to the " militia pamphlet," I have seen 
reference made to it in the newspapers, it is true, but I have never handled 
it — have never read it, or circulated a copy or copies of it, directly or indi- 
rectly. And now, sir, as to my office. That is my monument ; its records 
are its inscriptions. Let it be examined, and I invite a commission for that 
purpose ; nor will I return to it to put a paper in its place, should it be out 
of place, or in any other way prepare it for the ordeal ; and, if tliere is a 
single flaw in it, or any just grounds for complaint, either on the part of the 
white or the red man, implicating my capacity — my diligence, or want of due 
regard to the interests of all having business with it, including the govern- 
ment, then, sir, you shall have my free consent to put any mark upon me 
you may think proper, or subject me to as much opprobrium as shall gratify 
those who have thus abused your confidence by their secret attempts to in- 
jure me.' 

*' * Colonel McKenney,' said the General, who had kept his eyes upon me 
during the whole of my reply, ' I believe every word you have said, and am 
satisfied that those who communicated to me those allegations were mistaken.' 
* I thank you, sir,' I replied, ' for your confidence, but I am not satisfied. I 
request to have my accusers brought up, and that I may be allowed to confront 
them in your presence.' 'No — no, sir,' he answered, 'I am satisfied ; why 
then push the matter farther? ' when, rising from his chair, he took my arm, 
and said, 'Come, sir, come down, and allow me to introduce you to my fam- 
ily.' I accompanied him, and was introduced to Mrs. Donaldson, Major 
Donaldson, and some others who were present, partook of the offering of a 
glass of wine, and retired. 

" The next morning I believe it was — or if not the next, some morning not 
far off — a Mr. R-b-s-n, a very worthy, gentlemanly fellow, and well known to 
me, came into my office. 'You are busy, Colonel?" he said, as he entered. 
' No, sir, not very,' I replied ; ' come in — I have learned to write and talk 
too, at the same time. Come in ; sit down ; I am glad to see you.' Look- 
ing round the office, the entire walls of which I had covered with portraits of 
Indians, he asked, pointing to the one that hung over my desk, 'Who is 



THE BEGINNING OF THE ^'SPOILS" SYSTEM. jc 

that?' ' Red- Jacket,' I Q.ns\vexed. 'And that?' ' Shin guab-0' Wassin' 1 
replied; and so he continued. He then- asked, 'Who wrote the treaties 
with the Indians, and gave instructions to commissions, and, in "-eneral car- 
ried on the correspondence of the office?' 'These are within the circle of 
my duties, the whole being under a general supervision of the Secretary of 
War,' I answered. ' Well, then,' after a pause, he said, ' the office will not 
suit me.' 'What office,' I asked. 'This,' he replied; 'General Jackson 
told me, this morning, it was at my service ; but before seeing the Secretary 
of War, I thought I would come and have a little chat with you first.' 

"I rose from my chair, saying— ' Take it, my dear sir, take it. The 
sword of Damocles has been hanging over my head long enough.' 'No,' 
said he, ' it is not the sort of place for me. I prefer an auditor's office, where 
forms are established.' This worthy citizen had, in the fullness of his heart, 
doubtless, and out of pure affection for General Jackson, made that distin- 
guished personage a present of the pair of pistols which General Washington 
had carried during the war of the Revolution,"* 

Colonel McKenney retained his office some time longer, be- 
cause the Secretary of War assured the President that its duties 
were complex and numerous, and could not be discharged by a 
person inexperienced in Indian affairs. He tells us, however, 
that he was kept in constant suspense, and had, occasionally, an 
ominous warning: "My chief clerk, Mr. Hambleton, came 
into my room one morning, soon after I had taken my seat at my 
table, and putting his hands upon it, leaned over. I looked up, 
and saw his eyes were full of tears ! To my question — 'Is any 
thing the matter, Mr. Hambleton ? ' ' Yes, sir — I am pained to 
inform you, that you are to be displaced to-day ! We all feel it. 
Our connection has been one of unbroken harmony, and we are 
grieved at the thought of a separation. The President has ap- 



* McKenney's Memoirs, p. 200. 



1 6 THE BEGINNING OF THE "SPOILS" SYSTEM. 

pointed General Thompson, a member of Congress, of Georgia — 
he boards at my mother's, and I have it from himself. He says I 
shall remain, but the rest of the clerks he shall dismiss, to make 
room for some of the President's friends,' ^ Well, Mr. H. ,' I 
replied, ' it is what I have been constantly looking for. Your 
annunciation does not at all surprise me ; indeed, it puts an end 
to my suspense ; and, apart from the pain of leaving you all, and 
the thought that others are to be cut adrift, as well as myself, I 
feel relieved/ He walked a few times across my room, and then 
retired to his, which joined mine. Two hours after, I heard 
walking and earnest talking in the passage. They continued for 
half an hour. When they ceased, Mr. Hambleton came into my 
room, his face all dressed in smiles, saying, ^ It is not to be!' 
' What is not to be ? ' ' You are not to go out. When General 
Thompson came to the secretary this morning, with the Pres- 
ident's reference to him, to assign him to your place, he was told, 
before he could act, he (the secretary) must see the President. 
The result of the secretary's interview with the President was, you 
were to be retained, and General Thompson is referred back to 
the President for explanation. Thompson is in a rage about it.' " 
Another illustrative anecdote, which, though it may not be 
wholly true, is so like others that are known to be so, that I ven- 
ture to think it is, at least, founded in fact. A member of Con- 
gress, appointed to a foreign mission, consulted the President as 
to the choice of a secretary of legation. ^'The President de- 
clined all interference, and remarked to the minister that the 
United States government would hold him responsible for the 
manner in which he discharged his duties, and that he would con- 
sequently be at liberty to choose his own secretary. The minister 
returned his acknowledgment; but before taking leave, sought 



THE BEGINNING OF THE ''SPOILS" SYSTEM. ly 

his advice in regard to a young gentleman then in the State De- 
partment, and who was highly recommended by the secretary. 
General Jackson promptly said, ^ I advise you, sir, not to take the 
man. He is not a good judge of preaching.' The minister ob- 
served that the objection needed explanation. * I am able to give 
it/ said the General, and he thus continued : ' On las.t Sabbath 
morning I attended divine service in the Methodist Episcopal 
church in this city. There I listened to a soul-inspiring sermon 
by Professor Durbin of Carlisle, one of the ablest pulpit orators 
in America. Seated in a pew near me I observed this identical 
young man, apparently an attentive listener. On the day follow- 
ing he came into this chamber on business, when I had the curios- 
ity to ask his opinion of the sermon and the preacher. And what 
think you, sir? The young upstart, with consummate assurance, 
pronounced that sermon all froth, and Professor Durbin a hum- 
bug! I took ihe liberty of saying to him : My young man, you are 
a humbug yourself, and don't know it ! And now,' continued the 
old man, ^ rest assured, my dear sir, that a man who is not a better 
judge of preaching than that, is unfit to be your companion. And 
besides,' he added, * if he were the prodigy the Secretary of State 
represents him to be, he would be less anxious to confer his ser- 
vices upon you — he would rather be anxious to retain them him- 
self.'" 

As a general rule, the dismission of officers was sudden and 
unexplained. Occasionally, however, some reason was assigned. 
Major Eaton, for example, dismissed the chief clerk of the War 

Department in the terms following: "Major : The chief 

clerk of the Department should to his principal stand in the rela- 
tion of a confidential friend. Under this belief, I have appointed 
Doctor Randolph, of Virginia. 1 take leave to say, that since I 



1 8 THE BEGINNING OF THE ''SPOILS" SYSTEM. 

have been in this Department, nothing in relation to you has 
transpired to which I would take the slightest objection, nor have 
I any to suggest." 

These facts will suffice to show that the old system of appoint- 
ments and removals was changed, upon the accession of General 
Jackson, to the one in vogue ever since, which Governor Marcy 
completely and aptly described when he said that to the victors 
belong the spoils. Some of fehe consequences of this change are 
the following : 

I. The government, formerly served by the elite of the nation, is 
now served, to a very considerable extent, by its refuse. That, at 
least, is the tendency of the new system, because men of intelli- 
gence, ability, and virtue, universally desire to fix their affairs on a 
basis of permanence. It is the nature of such men to make each 
year do something for all the years to come. It is their nature to 
abhor the arts by which office is now obtained and retained. In 
the year of our Lord 1859, ^^^ ^'^^^ ^f a man's holding office under 
the government is presumptive evidence that he is one of three 
characters, namely, an adventurer, an incompetent person, or a 
scoundrel. From this remark must be excepted those who hold 
offices that have never been subjected to the spoils system, or 
offices which have been '^ taken out of politics." 

II. The new system places at the disposal of any government, 
however corrupt, a horde of creatures in every town and county, 
bound, body and soul, to its defense and continuance. 

III. It places at the disposal of any candidate for the presidency, 
who has a slight prospect of success, another horde of creatures in 
every town and county, bound to support his pretensions. I once 



THE BEGINNING OF THE "SPOILS'' SYSTEM. 19 

knew an apple-woman in Wall Street who had a personal interest 
in the election of a President. If her candidate gained the day, 
her "old man" would get the place of porter in a public ware- 
house. The circle of corruption embraces hundreds of thousands. 
IV. The spoils system takes from the government officer those 
motives to fidelity which, in private life, are found universally 
necessary to secure it. As no degree of merit whatever can secure 
him in his place, he must be a man of heroic virtue who does not 
act upon the principle of getting the most out of it while he holds 
it. Whatever fidelity may be found in office-holders must be set 
down to the credit of unassisted human virtue. 

In a word, the spoils system renders pure, decent, orderly, and 
democratic government impossible. Nor has any government of 
modern times given such a wonderful proof of inherent strength as 
is afforded by the fact that this government, after thirty years of 
rotation, still exists. 

At whose door is to be laid the blame of thus debauching the 
government of the United States? It may, perhaps, be justly 
divided into three parts. First, Andrew Jackson, impelled by 
his ruling passions, resentment and gratitude, did the deed. No 
other man of his day had audacity enough. Secondly, The example 
and the politicians of New York furnished him with an excuse for 
doing it. Thirdly, The original imperfection of the governmental 
machinery seemed to necessitate it. As soon as King Caucus was 
overthrown, the spoils system became almost inevitable, and, per- 
haps, General Jackson only precipitated a change, which, sooner 
or later, must have come. 

While the congressional caucus system lasted, confining the 
sphere of intrigue to the city of Washington, politicians did not 
much want the aid of the remote subordinate officers of the 



20 THE BEGINNING OE THE ''SPOILS" SYSTEM. 

government. But when the area of president-making was extended 
so as to embrace the whole nation, every tide-waiter, constable, 
porter, and postmaster could lend a hand. Well, then, do not 
burst with virtuous rage, until you have duly reflected upon the 
fact, too well known, that the average disinterested voter can only 
with difficulty be induced even to take the trouble to go to the 
polls and deposit his vote. Without the stimulus of interested ex- 
pectation, how is the work of a presidential campaign to be got 
done ? Who will paint the flags, and pay for the Roman candles, 
and print the documents, and supply the stump? The patriotic 
citizen, do you answer ? Why does he not do it then .? 

The spoils system, we may hope, however, has nearly run its 
course. It is already well understood, that every service in which 
efficiency is indispensable must be take7t out of politics ; and this 
process^ happily begun in some departments of municipal govern- 
ment, will assuredly continue. The first century of the existence 
of a nation, which is to last thirty centuries or more, should be re- 
garded merely in the light of the "Great Republic's " experimental 
trip. A leak has developed itself. It will be stopped. 

The course of the administration with regard to removals excited 
a clamor so loud and general as to inspire the opposition with new 
hopes. The old federalists who had aided to elect General Jack- 
son were especially shocked. Occasionally, too, the officers re- 
moved did not submit to decapitation in silence. The most 
remarkable protest published at the time was from the wife of one 
of the removed, Mrs. Barney, a daughter of the celebrated Judge 
Chase. Her husband's case was one of peculiar hardship, and she 
narrated it with the eloquence of sorrow and indignation : 

" My husband, sir, never was your enemy. In the overflowing patriot- 
ism of his heart, he gave you the full measure of his love for your military 



THE BEGINNING OF THE " SPOILS" SYSTEM. 21 

services He preferred Mr. Adams for the presidency, because he thought 
hin, qualified, and you urrqualified, for the station. He would have been a 
traitor to his country, he would have had even my scorn, and have deserved 
yours, had he supported you under such circumstances. He used no means 
to oppose you. He did a patriot's duty in a patriot's way. For th.s he ts 
proscribed-/.«.>^.<^/ Oh! how ptmished 1 My heart bleeds as I wnte. 
Cruel sir ' Did he commit any offense worthy of punishment agamst God, 
or against his country, or even against you? Blush while you read th.s 
question; speak not, but let the crimson negative mantle on yo" *-^ ■ 
No sir-on the contrary, it was one of the best acts of his Ufe. When he 
bared his bosom to the hostile bayonets of his enemies, he was „ot tnore m 
the line./ his duty, than when he voted against you ; and had he fallen a 
martyr on the field of fight, he would not more have deserved a monument 
than he now deserves for having been worse than martyred in support of 
the dearest privilege and chartered right of American freemen. Careless 
as you are about the effects of your conduct, it would be idle to rnform you 
of the depth and quality of that misery which you have worked ,n the 
bosom of my family. Else would I tell a tale that would provoke sympa- 
thy in any thing that had a heart, or gentle drops of pity from every eye 
not acetrstomed to look upon scenes of human cruelty "with composure. 
Besides, you were apprised of our poverty; you knew the dependence of 
eight little children for food and raiment upon my husband's salary. You 
knew that, advanced in years as he was. without the means to prosecute 
any regular business, and without friends able to assist him, the world 
would be to him a barren heath, an itrhospitable wild. You were able, 
therefore, to anticipate the heart-rending scene which you may now re- 
alize as the sole work of your hand. The sickness and debility of my hus- 
band now calls upon me to vindicate his and his children's wrongs. The 
natural timidity of my sex vanishes before the necessity of my s.tuat.on ; 
and a spirit, sir, as proud as yours, although in a female bosom, demand, 
justice. At your hands I ask it. Return to him what you have rndely 
torn from his possession ; give back to his children their former means of 
securing their food and raiment ; show that you can relent and that y 
rule has had at least one exception. The seventy practiced by you m th.s 



22 THE BEGINNING OF THE ''SPOILS" SYSTEM. 

instance is heightened, because accompanied by a breach of your faith, 
solemnly pledged to my husband. He called upon you, told you frankly 
that he had not voted for you. What was your reply ? It was, in sub- 
stance, this, ' that every citizen of the United States had a right to express 
his political sentiments by his vote ; that no charges had been made against 
IMajor Barney; if any should be made, he should have justice done; he 
should not be condemned unheard.' Then, holding him by the hand with 
apparent warmth, you concluded — * Be assured, sir, I shall be particularly 
cautious how I listen to assertions of applicants for office.' With these as- 
surances from you, sir, the President of the United States, my husband re- 
turned to the bosom of his family. With these rehearsed, he wiped away 
the tears of apprehension. The President was not the monster he had been 
represented. They would not be reduced to beggary — haggard want 
would not be permitted to enter the mansion where he had always been 
a stranger. The husband and the father had done nothing in violation of 
his duty as an officer. If any malicious slanderer should arise to pour his 
poisonous breath into the ears of the President, the accused would not be 
condemned unheard, and his innocence would be triumphant — they would 
still be happy. It was presumable also, that, possessing the confidence 
of three successive administrations (whose testimony in his favor I pre- 
sented to you), he was not unworthy the office he held ; besides, the signa- 
tures of a hundred of our first mercantile houses established the fact of his 
having given perfect satisfaction in the manner he transacted the business 
of his office. In this state of calm security, without a moment's warning — 
like a clap of thunder in a clear sky — your dismissal came, and, in a moment, 
the house of joy was converted into one of mourning. Sir, was not this 
the refinement of cruelty? But this was not all. The wife whom you 
thus agonized, drew her being from the illustrious Chase, whose voice of 
thunder early broke the spell of British allegiance, when in the American 
Senate, he swore by Heaven that he owed no allegiance to the British 
Crown — one, too, whose signature was broadly before your eyes, affixed 
to the Charter of our Independence. The husband and the father whom 
you have thus wronged, was the first-born son of a hero, whose naval and 
military renown brightens the pages of your country's history, from '76 to 



THE BEGINNING OF THE "SPOILS" SYSTEM. 23 

1 81 5, with whose achievements posterity will not condescend to compare 
yours ; for he fought amidst greater dangers, and he fought for Independ- 
ence. By the side of that father, in the second British war, fought the son ; 
and the glorious 12th of September bears testimony to his unshaken intre- 
pidity. A wife, a husband, thus derived ; a family of children drawing their 
existence from this double revolutionary fountain, you have recklessly, 
causelessly, perfidiously, and therefore inhumanly, cast helpless and desti- 
tute upon the icy bosom of the world ; and the children and the grand- 
children of Judge Chase and Commodore Barney are poverty-stricken upon 
the soil which owes its freedom and fertility, in part, to their heroic patriot- 
ism." 

The reader ought to be informed, I think, that his friend 
and benefactor, Major Lewis, opposed this fatal removal policy 
from the beginning to the end. "In relation to the principle 
of rotation," he once wrote to General Jackson, "I embrace 
this occasion to enter my solemn protest against it ; not on 
account of my office, but because I hold it to be fraught with 
the greatest mischief to the country. If ever it should be car- 
ried out in extenso, the days of this republic will, in my opinion, 
have been numbered ; for whenever the impression shall become 
general that the government is only valuable on account of its 
offices, the great and paramount interest of the coun'ry will be 
lost sight of, and the government itself ultimately destroyed. 
This, at least, is the honest conviction of my mind with regard 
to these novel doctrines of rotation in office." 



The Civil- Service Reform Association. 
Affiliated Societies. 

Tk« Executive Committee 'of the Civil-Service Reform Association 
in New York urges the establishment of Affiliated Societies throughout 
the country to promote and to hasten the refoi-m of the Civil Service of the 
United States, To those who desii-e to cooperate in this way they make the 
following suggestions : 

I. — Xo organize and strengthen the local interest in the reform. 

2. — To place this local club in correspondence with the C. S. R. A., so 
that the scattered effort of local organizations/may be moulded into a con- 
certed national movement, with a definite plan of procedure. 

3. — To furnish the Secretary of the C. S. R. A. in New York with the 
constitution, name and address of the Affiliated Society, and the list of its 
officers for registration. 

It is suggested that the objects to be at present aimed for by Affiliated 
Societies, are : 

I. — To stimulate individual members into an active advocacy of the re- 
form. 

2. — To circulate sound documents bearing on the different phases of the 
reform. 

3. — To enlist newspapers to advocate it, and to reply to newspapers who 
publish matter opposing it, 

4. — To send copies of newspapers that contain articles which promote or 
oppose the reform to the Secretary of the C. S. R,. A. in New York, so 
that they may be registered. 

5. — To engage lecturers who can present forcibly and judiciously the pur- 
pose and importance of the work. 

6. — To circulate petitions to Congress among persons who are willing to 
solicit signatures and induce the members of influential bodies, such as 
Chambers of Commerce, Boards of Trade, church congregations, etc., to 
sign the same. 

7. — To state the needs and the difficulties of the local organization, and 
what aid would be welcome from the C. S. R. A. in New York, 

8. — To give particulars as to the attitude of the Member of Congress for 
the district on the question, and suggest wliat may incline him favorably 
to it. , 

9. — To urge the claims of the reform upon the Member of Congress by 
proper means, either by individual or by official action, and induce his sup- 
port for it. 

10.— To oppose candidates at the polls who are adverse to it, whenever 
greater political interests are not sacrificed. 

The Civil-Service Reform Association will aid Affiliated Societies : 

I. — By furnishing suitable documents for distribution at cost price. 

2. — By placing them in communication with acceptable lecturers. 

3. — By giving information in response to their enquiries. 



PRESIDENT. 
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, 

VICE-PRESIDENTS. 
BENJ. H. BRISTOW, GEO. B. McCLELLAN, 

HOWARD POTTER, JOHN JAY, 

ROSWELL D. HITCHCOCK, ROBERT B. MINTURN, 

OSWALD OTTENDORFEK, GEORGE B. BUTLER. 

TREASURER. 
JOHN C. ENO. 

SECRETARY. 
RICHARD L. DUGDALE, 

79 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
EVERETT P. WHEELER, Chairman, 
HENRY W. BELLOWS, PETER B. OLNEY, 

SILAS W. BURT, GEO. HAVEN PUTNAM, 

EDWARD GARY, WM. GARY SANGER, 

DORM AN B. EATON, ANSON PHELPS STOKES, 

ELIAL F. HALL, HENRY STONE,. 

CHAS, H. MARSHALL, WM. H. THOMSON, 

F. W. WHITRIDGE. 



PUBLICATION COMMITTEE, 
E. L. GODKIN, Ciiairman, 
GEO. WILLIAM CURTIS, A. R. MACDONOUGH,; 

HORACE WHITE, WILLIAM POTTS. 




COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION, 

DOR MAN B. EATON, Chairman, 



EVERETT P. WHEELER,, 



PETER B. OLNEY. 



AUDITING COMMITTEE, 

GEO. B. BUTLER. Chairman, 



ELIAL F. HALL, 



^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





012 605197 9 



s 



HoUinger Corp. 



